Protect the Ship at All Costs
by RadcliffePotter
Summary: When Enterprise is attacked by another ship who wants to steal Enterprise's warp coils so that they can outfit their own ship for warp, chaos ensues. Crewman Molly Hess does her part to avert disaster, but will the effort cost her her life? Please R&R!


**Protect the Ship at All Costs**

**Author's Note: ****Hey again**** I hope you ****all are enjoying my continuing story "Coming Back". ****Also, I'm going to need some feedback about this story to see if you want me to write more! **

**Summary: ****This story features an original character, Molly Hess. When **_**Enterprise**_** is attacked by another ship who wants to steal **_**Enterprise**_**'s warp coils so that they can outfit their own ship for warp, chaos ensues. Molly does her part to avert the disaster of a stranded **_**Enterprise**_** – but will the effort cost her her life****And what happens when they can't lose their pursuers? **

**Contact: To contact me, email me at Go ahead and post any my stories wherever you please, just ask for permission first via email.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these people, except for Molly Hess. I only wish I owned the rest of them. No money changed hands…yadda yadda…you know the drill.**

**-RadcliffePotter**

The _Fantomaya_

"Hard to port, Travis!" Archer yelled as _Enterprise_ desperately tried to outmaneuver the _Fantomaya_. For days, Archer had felt a strange sensation like being followed. He had tried to shake off the feeling – but to no avail. Unfortunately, his gut feeling wasn't usually wrong, and this time was no exception. He had been hailed while in his quarters by Hoshi who let him know that a ship had appeared only several hundred yards behind them.

_Enterprise_ had been running on only impulse power at the time because Commander Tucker had requested that he be allowed to refit engineering with some of the new improvements he had come up with for the engine. Being that Archer trusted Trip totally, he more than willingly agreed and the ship had been set on impulse. It was shortly after that that Archer's apprehensions presented themselves.

As Archer strode onto the bridge and settled himself in the captain's chair, Hoshi received a terse message from their pursuer. The view screen had blazed to life revealing perhaps one of the ugliest things Archer thought he had ever seen. The man before him – at least, Archer _assumed _it was a man, though he couldn't be sure – appeared to be a mix between snake and man. He had small slit like red eyes, and a strange mottled pattern to his skin that closely resembled a boa constrictor. He looked so much like a snake standing upright that when he began speaking, Archer actually looked for a forked tongue, but didn't see one. His message was harsh and to the point, "You will surrender and give us what we need. If you fail to comply, we _will_ be forced to ransack and then destroy your vessel,"

Archer stood up intending to reply, but the communication was shut off as abruptly as it had begun. Wearing a scowl, Archer paced the deck waiting for an update on their enemy's behavior. "They're approaching, sir," said Malcolm, his tone all business. Archer punched the comm button on his chair arm and said, "Archer to Engineering,"

A second or two later, the unmistakable southern drawl of Commander Tucker answered back, "Tucker here, what can I do for ya, Cap'n?"

"Trip," said Archer, hurriedly, "We've got company. I need warp speed," He heard the scramble of work going on in Engineering as the crew was completing Trip's modifications. "No can do, Cap'n," he said. "We're still making careful adjustments to several systems. If we try to go to warp now, we're gonna end up frying more than a couple of people down here," Archer gritted his teeth in anger. _Might as well make the best of a bad situation,_ he thought grimly. "Well then, can you at least be ready to coax every bit of impulse out of the engines? I have a feeling we're going to need it,"

"You just let me know when," said Trip. Archer thumbed the comm closed. "Hard to port, Travis!" Archer yelled to Ensign Mayweather. He was through fooling around. As the enemy ship made to dock, Mayweather swerved _Enterprise_ away from the _Fantomaya_. Archer knew that they would only be able to outmaneuver the _Fantomaya_ for so long. The time would come when fire power not maneuverability would determine the outcome of the battle. "Malcolm," Archer said urgently, "I'm going to need the phase cannons as soon as possible,"

Malcolm nodded as his flingers whizzed over the console in front of him. "The phase cannons are online, sir," said Malcolm. Archer leaned forward in his chair looking at the view screen. He was startled when the snake-like commander appeared once more. "Foolish humans!" he bellowed in a towering rage, "You will submit to us or be duly punished!"

Archer leaned forward in the chair and sneered in disgust. "You can go to hell!" he said back. The reptilian commander gave Archer a look fit to kill and then closed the link. "They're closing in again, sir," said Malcolm carefully watching the screen in front of him. "I think they're trying to dock again."

And it was true. The _Fantomaya_ was once again zooming toward the airlock of _Enterprise_. However, they had a far more daring move in mind this time than just docking.

Ransacking the _Enterprise_

"I'm picking up a strange energy surge from the enemy ship," said Malcolm. He paused looking at the monitor, confused. "I'm picking up the same signal on the C Deck of _Enterprise_," And Archer and Reed both reached the same conclusion at the same time. "They're transporting!" shouted Archer in disbelief.

Meanwhile, on C Deck, Molly Hess was coming around the wrong corner at precisely the wrong time. She turned the corner in time to see two giant snake men appear in the hallway from nowhere. One of them turned, and seeing her, raised a large gun. Molly yelped and ran back around the corner. She smashed the comm button in a panic. "C Deck, Molly Hess to bridge," she yelled.

"Bridge here," said Archer, dreading what he might hear next. "Two intruders on C Deck, subsection 15. They're big. I'm unarmed – send security." _Damn it! _Archer thought angrily._ Maybe Malcolm was right._ Several times previously, Malcolm had recommended that all crew should carry phase pistols at all times, for protection. Archer had never approved the idea because he felt that being armed at all times would unnerve the crew and lower morale. But right now, he really wished he had followed Malcolm's advice. "Listen very carefully, Molly," said Archer, "A few feet down the hallway is a security cabinet with some spare phase pistols. Take one, but try to stay out of sight!" He heard a blast from a gun and small gasp of shock from Molly. "It's a little too late to avoid being seen!" she yelled and then link closed.

Swearing silently, Archer thumbed the comm and said, "Security to C Deck, subsection 15. We're going to need the MACOs too."

Archer heard the deep voice of Major Hayes rumble back over the comm, "We'll be there in a minute, Captain. Are any of our people there yet?"

"Yes," said Archer grimly, "Molly Hess is there. Apparently she came into the hallway just as they were beaming in. From the sound of it, she's already in a fire fight with them. Or more accurately, they're having their own fire fight since she's unarmed."

Hayes cursed and Captain Archer could hear him issuing orders to the other MACOs in the room. "We're on our way, Captain,"

All this sitting around while his ship was under invasion was just too much for Captain Archer to bear. He stood up from his chair and strode toward the turbolift doors. "Malcolm, you're with me. T'Pol, you have the bridge," She looked ready to object to his decision, but last minute she closed her mouth resolutely and nodded. He was such a stubborn man, sometimes she wondered why she even bothered talking to him. The doors swished closed and Malcolm looked at Archer quizzically. "So, what do you have in mind, Captain?" he asked quietly. Archer leaned back against the wall of the turbo lift and closed his eyes before answering. "I'm not really sure Malcolm, but I'm not just going to sit on the bridge doing nothing," Malcolm nodded. "Perhaps we should meet up with the MACOs and then go from there?" he suggested. Archer nodded and they took the turbolift to D deck where the MACOs frequently trained in the gym. However, when they arrived, the gym was deserted. Archer looked at Malcolm and shrugged. Grabbing some phasers from the nearby weapons chest, they jogged back to the turbo lift and up to C deck. The located the hallway easily where the intruders were since they could see the MACOs with guns raised from the turbolift. The hallway itself was eerily silent.

Both men had expected a cacophony of noises: phaser fires, whatever sound the intruders' weapons made, the dull thuds of missed shots, the scrabble of the MACOs adjusting their positions – but the hallways was eerily silent. As Malcolm and Archer exited the hallway, phasers raised, they heard Hayes saying, "Just let her go. I'm sure that we can settle this without killing anyone," Archer froze. _Hostages._ He thought as a chill of dread ran up his spine. _They have hostages. Molly._ He was jerked from his reverie when he heard Hayes saying, "We'll get Captain Archer here. Just give us a few minutes,"

This statement was followed by a hiss that sounded like it was supposed to be a laugh. He heard the deep rumble of one of the snakes answering back, "I want him here NOW!" Archer stepped into plain sight and said, "All right, I'm here," A look of horror crossed his face. The bigger one of the two had Molly clutched against him, using her as a shield. None of the MACOs had dared to fire on him for fear of hitting her. His comrade lay on the floor, presumably killed by one of the MACOs wielding phasers. The snake looked panicked.

Surprisingly, Molly looked fairly calm, given the situation at hand. The lizard had his slimy arm around her neck, allowing her enough air to breathe, but not much more. Her hands were clutched around his arm. He could see her fingers frantically scrabbling along his arm in an attempt to pull his arm from her throat. "Stop squirming you!" he said gruffly to Molly. As if to prove that he was serious, he pulled his arm tighter around her throat. Archer could hear her breath come in wheezing gasps as she attempted to pull more oxygen into her lungs, but could not. She scrambled even more now.

Molly was feeling light headed. She struggled to pull oxygen into her lungs, but was unable to do more than wheeze. Her thoughts grew fuzzy and things started looking gray. She needed to breathe. This guy was obviously desperate. His comrade had already died and was laying only a few feet away. She assumed that they were supposed to be some sort of elite infiltration team that had come onto the ship for some sinister purpose, but now that purpose was forgotten. The lizard was all alone and he wanted to get off of this ship, whether he had to kill Molly to do it or not. She knew that she needed to get away from him, but how? In her fogging mind she couldn't concentrate very well on coming up with a solution.

She could see Captain Archer's lips were moving. He might even have been talking directly to her, but if he was, she couldn't hear him through the roaring in her mind. Fighting desperately to stay conscious, Molly did the one thing she could think of that might make her captor let her go.

Lowering her head quickly to his slimy arm, she opened her mouth and bit down on his arm as hard as she could muster. Her sharp canines bit easily into the green flesh and blue blood began spilling out. She tasted the blood in her own mouth and gagged as she was forced to swallow it or choke on it. The lizard did indeed let her go. With a bellow of rage, he shoved her roughly from him. The sudden surge of fresh, unhindered air into Molly's lungs was almost overwhelming to her. She took a great shuddering breath and pitched forward.

Between the sudden increase in oxygen, the vile blood lingering in her mouth, and the blood she had swallowed that was making her stomach roll, Molly hit the deck as she tried desperately not to vomit. The lizard above her was going on a rampage. Now that he had no hostage, he attempted to turn tail and run. Still enough about her wits to know what was going on Molly reached out a hand and grabbed the lizard's ankle pulling hard. Unsuspecting of such an attack, he was unprepared. He careened forward and the phase pistol in his hand went off with a loud _thud_ as his skull collided with the immoveable ground. There was a simultaneous grunt from the lizard as his skull impacted with the floor, and a howl of pain from Molly as the phaser blast hit her in the right hand.

The force of the blast was so great that bullet went straight through Molly's right hand. Archer and Malcolm rushed forward to Molly who was laying prone on the ground as the MACOs and Hayes surged forward to secure the intruder. Archer reached her first and carefully turned her over on to her back. Her eyes were glazed and wandered aimless over the ceiling. Feeling worried, Archer put his face right in front of hers and waited the seconds it took for her wandering pupils to first realize he was there and then focus on him. "Sir?" she said quietly, eyes wandering once again.

Malcolm, who kneeling next to Archer, who was cradling Molly, said, "Crewman Hess – Molly – can you hear me?" She didn't seem to register that Malcolm was even there, which scared Archer more than he cared to admit. A loss of oxygen could lead to brain damage, and he had no idea how long she had been struggling to breathe in the clutches of the intruder.

"Molly!" He asserted loudly and with authority in his voice. Perhaps if he sounded like he was commanding her she would be more likely to focus. "Are you alright?" he asked in the same voice.

Her wandering eyes flashed over his face and he saw the glint of recognition that meant she still knew who he was. "I feel a little –" she paused, face paling. "I think I'm going to be sick," She turned, more quickly than Archer would previously have thought possible in her weakened state and vomited a combination of blue lizard blood and whatever she had had for lunch all over the deck. She turned back looking, if possible, paler than ever and mumbled, "Sorry, I'll clean that up in a minute," before passing out before the two men.


End file.
